SportsShooter.com - What is the best use of my money?

SportsShooter.com: The Online Resource for Sports Photography

Contents:

Contests:

Newsletter:

Members:

About Us:

Members log in here with your user name and password to access the your admin page and other special features.

|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board

What is the best use of my money?

Rowan Byers, Student/Intern, Photographer

Goleta | CA | United States | Posted: 12:29 PM on 01.25.11

->> I'm going to be graduating from college soon. While I'd love to continue shooting stills, I have job opportunities opening up in the world of film production. I have a 5DII, a 24-70, and the new 70-200 2.8 IS, among other lenses. HDSLR video is popular right now and people like bringing people on with their own kits. That being said, when you work a large production, everything under the sun is rented for you.

So I've got about a $1000. Should I:
a) Save some more buy a used 7D. The speed and crop sensor will make my 70-200 a "real long lens" and I won't miss anymore shots because of the 5D's slow frame rate. People also love shooting video on 7D, I would be able to use it as a B-cam. But really this just would just be for shooting sports. Please take a look at my portfolio on this website and tell me if this is something I should still consider as a career.

b) Buy a used 16-35 2.8L (version 1 with the 77mm filter mount so I can use my polarizer). This would complete my "zoom trio" and really round out the lens selection I have for shooting video, photo journalist stuff, landscapes, ect. It would look so great on the full frame camera that I already have, but I've been trying to not rely on the "wow that's a wide lens" cool factor to make good images.

c) Don't buy anymore gear, spend the money traveling around the country on a train. I already have plenty of gear and I'm only young once. It would be an investment in my portfolio/life experiences bank.

What are your thoughts?

Charles Baus, Photographer

	Palm Springs, Los Angeles \| CA \| USA \| Posted: 12:36 PM on 01.25.11
	->> C) I wish I could go back and travel around the country. Do this now while you are young and you don't have other responsibilities. When you look back on your life 10 or 20 years from now will you remember the gear you had or the experiences you had traveling around the country. Seems like an easy decision to me.

Erik Markov, Photographer

	anywhere \| IN \| \| Posted: 12:45 PM on 01.25.11
	->> C, just have a good plan to maximize the travel, while still being able to change it should something really cool be available to you that might derail the plan a bit, but the opportunity might be worth it.

G.J. McCarthy, Photographer

	Dallas \| TX \| US \| Posted: 1:08 PM on 01.25.11
	->> Do you have any savings in addition to the $1k?

Andrew Scott, Photo Editor, Photographer

	McLean \| VA \| United States \| Posted: 1:24 PM on 01.25.11
	->> D - Roth IRA

Eric Canha, Photographer

	Brockton \| MA \| United States \| Posted: 1:30 PM on 01.25.11
	->> I must be the 2nd oldest fart on the board...... G.J.'s question was the FIRST one that came to mind. Stash it! Unless of course you have a comfortably padded bank account. In which case I'd travel. Seriously though, if you don't already have 6 months of living expenses covered put the grand towards THAT.

David A. Cantor, Photographer, Photo Editor

	Toledo \| OH \| USA \| Posted: 1:34 PM on 01.25.11
	->> D) Send it to me.... Seriously, you have enough gear. Travel to new places and make new pictures.

Scott Morgan, Photographer

Rockford | IL | United States | Posted: 2:13 PM on 01.25.11

->> WIthout knowing some more information, it's tough to say what you should do. I would suggest a few things though.

- How much debt do you have? When do you need to start repaying it, if you aren't already?
- Do you have savings? You should really have six months of living expenses in the bank. With the job market as it is, you don't want to be screwed if you lose your job, or stuck if you can't afford to leave a bad job. Having a buffer in the bank opens up opportunities for you to take risks later on.
- Are you making any money now? If not, don't buy gear. You already have plenty. If you end up making some as an independent contractor, you'll probably want to offset some tax liability with a gear purchase.

Jim Colburn, Photo Editor, Photographer

	McAllen \| TX \| USA \| Posted: 2:58 PM on 01.25.11
	->> I really want to say travel and I hate myself for saying this but save your money. $1000 isn't all that much and you're going to need it for rent and food.

Butch Miller, Photographer

	Lock Haven \| PA \| USA \| Posted: 3:09 PM on 01.25.11
	->> I have to agree with the save your cash sentiment ... $1,000 in this day and age isn't going to get you very far ... even on a train ... If you have any student loans ... applying that grand to the balance could save you substantial money in interest over time ...

Rowan Byers, Student/Intern, Photographer

Goleta | CA | United States | Posted: 4:05 PM on 01.25.11

->> Wow. That got heavy quickly... For the purposes of this thread, let's assume that I'm making a little bit of money at photography but not enough to reinvest in gear yet. I have my expenses covered for the next 6 month and that if I totally blow it as a working imaging professional in the big city I have a decent paying job waiting for me back in my hometown working construction. I went to a UC and got a few scholarships/financial aid so that my loans are totally within reason. So this is money that I want to invest in myself, either through equipment, experience, or I guess in actually saving. I've run the numbers and I could definitely do the trip I want to on less then a thousand, train tickets being about $600 and the majority of my lodging being friend's couches.

I guess to me, the value of travel far outweighs the value of saving money. New question:

Will saving this money have the same kind of impact on my life as this trip potentially would? Would any of you trade your memories/pictures of a similar trip for the cost of that trip plus interest?

David A. Cantor, Photographer, Photo Editor

	Toledo \| OH \| USA \| Posted: 4:35 PM on 01.25.11
	->> Investing in a creative road/rail trip will the reap the most valuable dividends IMHO.

Rob Kerr, Photographer

Bend | OR | US | Posted: 4:44 PM on 01.25.11

->> I'll be a rebel with a cause; buy some fast prime lenses and go use them. Travel can be a lifetime lifestyle choice, not just when you're young. The uber-train trip is one option, but three-day trips a few times per month might also yield great experiences and photography. A 50/1.4, 28/1.8, 35/2 or a used 24/1.4 are useful video tools as well as durable and useful photojournalism and nature tools.

As for sports, the investment for big glass and faster bodies is a different category than the 7D crop-factor patch job.

Go photograph smart. Do some personal video projects to help land jobs. Travel. The 5DMKII is wonderful and a fast prime makes a solid working kit for you.

Have fun!
-rob.

Mike Janes, Photographer

Attica | NY | USA | Posted: 4:51 PM on 01.25.11

->> It sounds like you know what you want to do and are just looking for validation.

To me I'd travel if it meant not blowing an opportunity to get my foot in the door with the job opportunities you speak of. Are you going to be losing an "in" if you go travel? How guaranteed is that job once you get back? Things change, it's cliche to say so, but they do and drastically sometimes.

If you choose travel, do it with purpose hitting locations you want to see and can shoot, maybe selling high end prints or trying to sell them as stock. Don't just do it to go hang with buddies and all that, do it with goals in mind.

Saving or paying off debt is a good idea to, personally I'd pay down the debt as much as possible as interest does build up and you hate to have that hanging over your head. Savings accounts come when you can afford to put money aside, which can be tough for those with debt.

Debra L Rothenberg, Photographer

New York | NY | USA | Posted: 5:43 PM on 01.25.11

->> travel! If you know where you are going, try to contact some magazines or newspapers to see if they need photos of where you are going to be.
When I was 27 I wanted to see Russia, but didn't have enough to go. I called a few magazines and they said "send us photos when you get back." It paid for my trip.
When I was 32, I heard of an educational Holocaust trip for teens from around the world called The March of The Living that went to Poland for 1 week, and Israel the next. I really didn't have enough money at the time to send myself, even though I desperately wanted to go and was going to get there no matter what. I wrote a group going and asked for a meeting. They told me they had 20 minutes to give me. I met with them, showed them some examples of my work and what I wanted to do. A week later, I get a letter telling me they are bringing me along. The photos were used in a book and I had a photo exhibit. This trip changed my life.
As someone said, you are young once, and have very few responsibilities now. Go out with your camera, meet tons of people, make some great images and have a great time.

DLR

Thomas E. Witte, Photographer, Photo Editor

Cincinnati | OH | USA | Posted: 8:19 PM on 01.25.11

->> Take your grand and start here:

http://www.nasdaq.com/

Then go here:

http://www.tdameritrade.com/

Then go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Como

Don't even worry about upgrading your gear because if you can get a decent photo with what you have now, what will a new camera really accomplish? To put it in to the aforementioned context; if you invest your money you could expect a -35% to +250% return on your investment (ballparking based on how panicked you get) over 12 months where you can ONLY GUARANTEE negative ROI on a new camera over the same period of time. People might argue that the new camera will be making you money which should count against the initial "investment" but technically if you already have a camera that gets the job done, then that argument is moot.

Mike Anzaldi, Photographer

	Oak Park \| IL \| USA \| Posted: 8:33 PM on 01.25.11
	->> travel, dude. i thought i liked the idea of a couple fast primes, but if you're focusing on video with that 5D, those are not useful. you have a good kit. travel, but have a plan...even if the plan is to come back with 5 quality minutes of video imagery. without a goal, a trip could easily be a waste.

John Pena, Photographer, Assistant

	Piscataway \| NJ \| USA \| Posted: 9:42 PM on 01.25.11
	->> Thomas brings up a great point about investing that money. I just got into it recently myself - it's a buyer's market right now since the economy is steadily improving. That $1000 over time will grow and then you'll have more options. General Electric is a great stock to look into right now.

Darren Whitley, Photographer

Northwest Missouri | MO | USA | Posted: 12:47 AM on 01.26.11

->> The best thing you could do is go out and find the best thing you could shoot for that money. After years of buying gear with a rainy day plan, I realized I should have pursued opportunities to shoot something rather than buying gear for "what if" or "someday I'd like to.."

Several years ago I shot in Sante Fe, NM, and Sedona, Arizona. I got more satisfaction from that adventure than any gear has every provided.

Michael Fischer, Photographer

Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 8:53 AM on 01.26.11

->> This is tough. My daughter is a PhD candidate who has traveled the world. Spent long periods of time in Turkey; has visited Syria and Iran (where she presented a paper). She has certainly impacted and help build our desire to see the world.She has traveled extensively as a young person.

The notion that you can travel only when you're young, however, isn't a accurate one. If you want to travel through your adult years, you can. I belong to a frequent flyer website where one of the activities is finding mistake airfares so you can travel - cheap. People of all ages are on there.

Invest that money. Thomas makes an excellent recommendation. I'm not a great Gordon Gecco kind of investor, but I've been investing since I was in my late twenties - my biggest mistake was not investing MORE at the time. That $1000 investment at a very modest 5% rate of return becomes $4300 over 30 years. If you become a little comfortable with stock picking, it can become more - a LOT more. ( I bought small quantities of GE and Ford less than two years ago for less than $10/share - they have both gone into the mid to high teens in less than 18 months).

I would also suggest a budget. Whatever you do for employment, some of it has to pay bills, etc. Nothing says you can't have two extra piles of money - one for IRA/investment - and one for travel. It's all a question of having a budget and sticking with it.

Derek Montgomery, Photographer

Duluth | MN | USA | Posted: 9:01 AM on 01.26.11

Jim Colburn, Photo Editor, Photographer

	McAllen \| TX \| USA \| Posted: 10:01 AM on 01.26.11
	->> In THAT case, travel your ass off baby. There's nothing better to expand your mind both culturally and creatively. In fact, get another $1000 together and go to Europe!

Eric Francis, Photographer

	Omaha \| NE \| United States \| Posted: 12:05 PM on 01.26.11
	->> If I had invested all the money I've spent on gear, I wouldn't be here to offer you this advise.

Louis Lopez, Photographer

	Fontana \| CA \| USA \| Posted: 1:51 PM on 01.26.11
	->> Enroll in grad school...

Thomas E. Witte, Photographer, Photo Editor

Cincinnati | OH | USA | Posted: 2:00 PM on 01.26.11

->> Woops. Hey, yea, let me amend that a little bit - my basic point was to invest the money. If you're new to investing/trading then I strongly advise against doing it on your own at first (despite my Ameritrade reference) because you could quite possibly go insane trying to figure everything out on top of trying to understand market dynamics.

Then again, my original broker drove me insane (talked me out of buying Google and Chipotle IPOs) and forced me to go on my own. The final straw was when he insisted I not get involved with Citibank while it was crashing to $1.02. I liquidated soooooo many assets that week (sold four camera bodies, my 600mm, held an impromptu garage sale, borrowed from every living soul that would lend me money) to buy a metric shit-ton of shares. About a month later I sold for a quadruple gain, printed out a copy of the trade statement and sent it to the broker with a note saying "I no longer need your services".

Sounds nice right? Well I've also lost 40% in a day before too. Sometimes you know and sometimes you hope. Play it safe and let someone else guide you along for now.

Rowan Byers, Student/Intern, Photographer

Goleta | CA | United States | Posted: 9:56 PM on 01.26.11

->> This has been quite the thread... I've heard some great stories and advice. I started it mostly for the advice on the two pieces of gear but it quickly became about life philosophies. What I'll take away from it is that gear doesn't really matter, it's what you use it to take photos of. I think the catch 22 about investing is that by the time you've learned enough to take advantage of the market, your to old to grow you money for a long time. I know I've lost enough of those free internet stock market sims to not want to actually play the NASDAQ. Someday, I'll be able to invest with confidence, until then, I'll be on the road.

G.J. McCarthy, Photographer

Dallas | TX | US | Posted: 7:40 PM on 01.28.11

->> "I think the catch 22 about investing is that by the time you've learned enough to take advantage of the market, your to old to grow you money for a long time. I know I've lost enough of those free internet stock market sims to not want to actually play the NASDAQ."

So hey, Rowan, when you're an old man living in poverty (that would be, what you get off Social Security ... provided it still exists), can I do a photo story on you?

- gerry -

G.J. McCarthy, Photographer

Dallas | TX | US | Posted: 7:47 PM on 01.28.11

->> Well, after making the joke I decided to look at your site. Seems like you made some nice travel photos in South Africa.

If that's your passion, man, then do it, I guess. My thinking was $1,000 isn't really going to get you too far. Maybe around the states some. Mexico's an option, too, but it's pretty unsafe in certain areas.

Ultimately, it's your money. I made some dumb decisions finance wise when I was younger; I'm still paying off the debt. So, again, my advice would be to save or invest the money. But in the end, it's your change.

Oh, and by the way, it's "gray," not "grey." The color is gray. The dog is a greyhound. Make sense?

- gerry -

Greg Foster, Photographer

Atlanta | GA | | Posted: 9:06 PM on 01.28.11

->> Rowan, my first instinct about the best use of money is usually to keep it, and invest it. Your question got me to reminiscing about some of my travels and adventures when I was younger, though, and I think that little bit of money I spent doing that was also a good investment...no matter how much money you might have when you get older, you cannot buy memories...so I say hit the road and have fun. You've got plenty enough equipment to make nice photos, and heck, even if you double your money on some incredible investment (and let me in on it if you do), you'll still only have $2000.00, and that ain't gonna make or break you.

Send us a postcard.

Rowan Byers, Student/Intern, Photographer

	Goleta \| CA \| United States \| Posted: 9:50 PM on 01.28.11
	->> Gerry - good catch on that misspelling. I guess if I took some photos from a bus and got them in there, I wouldn't need to change it... Greg ->> I love those medium format shots you have in your gallery, do you still do anything like that?

Greg Foster, Photographer

Atlanta | GA | | Posted: 10:31 PM on 01.28.11

->> Thanks Rowan, I appreciate it...I still do a lot of portrait work, but I don't shoot as much medium format as I used to. I usually will shoot a few rolls of transparency on my Hasselblad along with the digital if I am photographing someone I think is important; I like to have film on subjects like that.

Hope you enjoy your travels, you mentioned going by train - I did that a long time ago, it is a good way to see the country...

Return to --> Message Board Main Index